


did it really take this long?

by tsunamiroll



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Error: No Straights Found, Flash Fiction, Fluff, M/M, Oneshot, Pining, Poly Relationship, jeno and jaemin just love renjun a lot, like so much pining you have no idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 13:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14978114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsunamiroll/pseuds/tsunamiroll
Summary: Jeno didn’t realise that he wasn’t the only one who had a thing for Huang Renjun.





	did it really take this long?

Lee Jeno was staring again.

It wasn't that he was obsessed with the boy beside him, except what was exactly what he was. He rested his head in his arms and watched as Huang Renjun, his best friend, scribble notes furiously in his notebook. The teacher droned on and on about 'circumscribed angles' and 'angle addition theorem' and stuff that Jeno did not care about in the least, so he took this time to admire his black haired friend. He probably should stop because someone's going to notice, but a tiny voice inside his head said 'let them.'

He straightened up in his seat as he saw Renjun start to pack his stuff, and no sooner had he done that the bell rang. Immediately, Renjun let out a huge groan, his head falling onto the page in front of him.

"Uh... you okay, man?" Jeno asked, poking the black mound of hair. The only answer he got was another groan. "Okayyy..." Jeno pushed all of his stuff into his backpack and without further warning, dragged Renjun off his seat. Renjun yelped, and then proceeded to hit Jeno square in the chest.

"I hate you." He said with zero conviction as he gathered up all of his stuff and slung his backpack across his shoulders.

"You love me." Jeno taunted, hiding how much he wished it were true with his famed eye-smile. Renjun rolled his eyes and nudged Jeno towards the door.

"I really am tired though." Renjun sighed as he lifted a hand to scrub his eyes. Jeno shrugged, his eye-smile making a reappearance.

"See, this is why enrolling in all AP classes as well as band and art is a bad idea." He said in a placating tone, and Renjun glared at him.

"My GPA is a 4.9 thanks to that, while yours is only 3.9. So don't talk." Jeno laughed, bumping Renjun with his shoulder. The prickly raven just glared at him again before speeding up his walking.

"Oh, come on!"

-

"Do you need anything to drink?" Renjun's mother asked them as she opened the door. Jeno nodded and bowed politely as he toed his shoes off. Renjun did the same and dropped his backpack onto the floor in the entrance hallway before going into the kitchen. He came back out with two glasses of water, and he handed one to Jeno. He mumbled his thanks before he gulped the water down. The walk to Renjun's house had been really, really hot, and Jeno felt his thirst quench with the cold water.

"Okay, come on!" Renjun took his glass and returned it to the kitchen before grabbing his backpack and running up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Jeno followed him into his bedroom, although much more slowly, and set his backpack down before keeling over into a chair.

Renjun shut the door to his room and promptly collapsed on his bed. He groaned into the pillow, not even looking up when warm laughter erupted from behind him.

"Screw off and let me sleep." He mumbled against the fabric, already halfway to sleep despite the noise.

"But then who will help me do my math homework?" Renjun looked over his shoulder at the brown haired boy. The slight pout in the other's lips was not enough to convince him to get out of bed. He pushed his head back into the pillow and when Jeno didn't complain anymore, he felt himself slowly drift into sleep.

Jeno, on the other hand, remained very awake.

He watched the rise and fall of the boys back and then quickly realised that his friend was going to pass out if he kept his face muffled in the pillow. He got up and gently pushed Renjun so that he was facing the wall. The raven haired boy murmured something in his sleep and Jeno froze when Renjun blindly reached for him and snuggled against his arm. The brown haired boy blinked, relishing the smooth feeling of Renjun's skin against his. He steeled himself and carefully settled onto the bed next to Renjun, his heart going a mile a minute. From his new vantage point he could see the shadows that his lashes made against his cheeks, and he could feel every time Renjun exhaled.

Renjun sighed in his sleep and snuggled closer to the warm mass that was Jeno. Jeno breathed out and decided that maybe he didn't need help on his math homework. He closed his eyes and fell asleep to the gentle sounds of Renjun breathing.

-

Renjun rushed into his art classroom, almost late to the class for the first time ever. He had dropped all of his things in the hallway and as high school goes, no one helped him. He got into his seat just as the bell rang, and he visibly deflated with relief. He heard chuckling to the right and he glared at the offender, who happened to be Na Jaemin. The glaring only caused more laughing until Renjun was also smiling despite his attempts not to.

It was bad enough that he had to deal with Jeno's cheekiness, but Jaemin's was worse. Why? Renjun could never bring himself to disagree with him. His terrible heart had chosen to fall for Jaemin, and fate decided that his heart was going to hurt for it.

The teacher shushed them and he and Jaemin immediately shut up. They turned to their respective canvases as the class started, and Renjun lost himself in the colours flowing from his paintbrush and the calming silence of the classroom.

About twenty minutes into the class and Renjun was still struggling to mix the right colour of paint.

"Hey, you okay?" Renjun startled, the whisper making his eyes rip away from his painting to Jaemin.

"Yeah, why?" He asked, frowning a little. The only thing wrong at the moment was how terrible this colour was coming along.

"You just looked really..." Jaemin paused a little, searching for the right word, "frustrated."

Renjun's frown smoothened out, "Oh. I'm just having trouble making right colour, that's it."

Jaemin leaned over the colour palette that was between them to look at his painting and Renjun had to hold his breath. If he leaned just the smallest bit over their cheeks would be touching.

"Oh, you mean here?" Jaemin pointed to a part of his painting and Renjun nodded although his eyes never stopped tracing Jaemin's face. Jaemin leaned back a bit and Renjun let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. Jaemin dabbed his paintbrush in a few paints and quickly mixed the right colour.

"There." Jaemin proudly said, looking at the paint. Renjun started at it in amazement.

"That was... fast. Thank you." Renjun said, dipping his paintbrush in it and stroking it across the canvas. He didn't notice the way Jaemin smiled at him and then stared at him just the slightest bit more before going back to his own painting.

-

Jeno never knew what to think of Na Jaemin. Sure, he acted friendly with him, but he also noticed his lingering gaze on Renjun and the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. Worse, he couldn't tell if that feeling was jealousy or something else.

Jeno watched as Jaemin and Renjun exited the art class, laughing. Jeno found his lips curling into a smile as he watched them, but the smile quickly froze when he realised how much he loved seeing them. As in, both of them. Jeno's feelings were interrupted when Jaemin was shoved into his arms by a laughing Renjun. He froze, not really knowing what to do but before he knew it Jaemin was peeling himself off of him.

"Renjun!" Jaemin whined as he rubbed his arm. Automatically, Jeno placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him and glared at Renjun.

"What the heck was that for?" Jeno said, trying to ignore the way Jaemin stiffened and then relaxed against his hand. Renjun just laughed again, and Jeno was starting to doubt he even had a reason. His annoyance turned into a smile as Jaemin started laughing as well, and soon all three of them were clutching to each other and trying to catch their breath.

The warning bell rang and all three of their heads shot up.

"Sh*t. See you guys later!" Renjun ran away and soon his black hair blended into the crowd of students in the hallway.

"Well, let's get going." Jeno shouldered his bag and started walking towards his next class, checking behind him to make sure that Jaemin was following. 

“He’s ridiculous, isn’t he?” Jeno said, his lips still stuck in a slight smile at the thought of Renjun. Jaemin chuckled in response, huffing out a quiet yes before a silence settled over them. It wasn’t awkward, per se, but the two boys definitely talked easier when Renjun was there. He was the only reason they were friends, after all.

Jaemin started talking about something random, and honestly Jeno wasn’t really listening to him. He was surprised to find himself watching the way Jaemin’s eyes lit up as he talked and how his lips moved to shape words.

It took Jeno a second to realise that he was smiling along with Jaemin, and his mind responded to the knee jerk reaction was complete blankness. He suddenly realised that Jaemin was about to walk into a person, and without thinking he drew Jaemin against him. Jaemin stopped talking and Jeno felt more than heard his sharp inhale.

“Watch where you’re going. Would’ve been a shame for you to trip.” Jeno said offhandly, letting go of Jaemin abruptly. He kept his gaze off of the other boy, silently reprimanding himself for not thinking before acting. His eyes snapped up when he felt a soft touch on his arm and Jaemin was looking at him with a soft smile. Jeno’s heart twisted in his chest as he tried to stop the flush slowly creeping up his neck. _First Renjun and now Jaemin, what is wrong with me?_

Jeno noticed that they had stopped walking and that the late bell was now ringing throughout the hallway. The silence of the hallway was deafening and it made him acutely aware of Jaemin’s breathing. The moment had turned into something else as Jaemin slowly leaned in, tilting his head up a bit to accommodate for the height. 

“Wait,” The words were whispered against Jaemin’s lips. “I can’t-“

“Is it Renjun?” Jaemin’s words aren’t accusatory, just open and... understanding. He didn’t put any distance between them and stayed pressed against Jeno. “Me too.” And then he leaned in again.

Jeno froze as Jaemin’s lips met his, but then his eyes slid shut of their own accord and he was leaning into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Jaemin and pressing against him. Jaemin made a little noise in the back of his throat that Jeno swallowed and then the kiss was over, both of them breathing hard against the other’s lips. Jeno’s mind was currently all over the place, racing with questions and confusion but he ignored the noise in his brain in favour of leaning back in and feeling how soft Jaemin’s lips were against his own.

Needless to say, both boys were very late to class.

-

Renjun had no idea if the Fates hated him or decided he needed a gift. He stood frozen in the hallway, his hand holding the door to the boy’s bathroom slightly open as he took in what was across the hallway: Jeno was pressed against the lockers by Jaemin who had his hands looped around Jeno’s neck. Jeno’s hands rested low on Jaemin’s hips, and the two were very obviously kissing.

His eyes traced over the two of them and his face felt hot as he watched them. He vaguely wondered if this counted as invading their privacy, but then Jaemin made a soft noise and pressed his face into Jeno’s neck and Renjun knew that he was never going to get this out of his head. He entered the bathroom and suddenly realised he had a very different problem to take care of then.

-

Renjun was still in shock. About a week had passed since the ‘Stop Thinking About It’ incident as he was now calling it in his head, and every time he closed his eyes he sees them. It’s made things a little bit awkward whenever Renjun sees them (just a teensy, tiny bit). 

Like now, for instance. Jaemin and Jeno are shoving each other around on the other side of the table in the library where Renjun is trying to do his homework (he’s finding Jaemin and Jeno to be more pleasing to his eyes than the math assignment in from of him). He’s got his headphones plugged in in a vain attempt to focus on something other than the two admittedly gorgeous boys in front of him. 

It’s strange, he thought, how his attraction to Jaemin wasn’t lessened by him kissing another guy and instead heightened. And, even more shocking, that that attraction has broadened to encompassed Jeno as well. He started to notice things about Jeno that he wouldnt have otherwise, like the flush in his cheeks after laughing or how his eyes almost disappeared when he did his adorable eye smile. 

“Renjun,” Jeno’s tone makes it certain that this wasn’t the first time that he had called for the black haired boy. His eyes snapped to Jeno’s now serious face.

“Yeah?” He has to try a few times to get the words out, his voice raspy from being quiet for so long.

“You okay? You’ve been spacing out a lot lately.” Jaemin asked, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips turned down in an adorable pout. Renjun flushed and quickly looked away from Jaemin’s face to the paper out in front of him. An image of Jaemin pressed into Jeno’s neck flashes across his mind’s eyes and yeah, his face must be as red as tomato.

“It’s-It’s nothing.” The words come out a lot quieter than he intended, and his gaze dropped even further into his lap. He misses the look that Jeno and Jaemin shared over his head and the tiny nod from Jaemin. A touch on his shoulder made his head snap up. His eyes found Jaemin barely a foot away, his eyes soft and open. Renjun’s eyes widened as he feels another touch on his other shoulder, but doesn’t move his gaze from Jaemin’s face. He’s suddenly aware of his own breathing an the loud rush of his pulse in his ears. 

“Did you see us?” Jaemin said softly, and Renjun’s thoughts started to race. _How did they find out?_ Renjun nodded mutely and he starts when he feels Jeno lace their fingers together. He finally turned to look at Jeno who has started rubbing circles into the back of his hand and had a soft smile on his face.

“We wanted you there.” Jeno said, flipping their hands over and tracing patterns on it with his other hand. Renjun freezed at the admission. His pulse shot through the roof and something churned in his stomach. His eyes went went wide when Jeno raised Renjun’s hand and pressed a kiss against his hand, and at the same time Jaemin leaned closer and pressed a soft kiss to Renjun’s cheek before tilting Renjun’s face towards him and sealing their lips together. Renjun’s breath stuttered and he closed his eyes as Jeno pressed a kiss to his pulse point and Jaemin’s lips moved seamlessly against his. Jaemin, surprisingly, was the one to break the kiss and Renjun shuddered out a long breath, opening his eyes and finding a smile on Jaemin’s face. 

“I’m guessing you wanted to be there, too?” Jaemin said softly, trying not to break the quietness of the library. Renjun tried to speak but in the end just nodded, breath still stolen from Jaemin’s kiss.

The moment was broken when Jeno complained, “How come you got to kiss him first? That’s so unfair, I liked him first!” Renjun started giggling, and Jaemin joined in with a soft chuckle that progressively grew until all three of them were trying to catch their breath. Renjun looked at the two boys beside him and sighed at the bubbling feeling of affection that threaten to spill out of him.

He really did love them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! If you liked it then please comment or give kudos, and if you have any prompts of suggestions for me than please comment those as well! Thank you!


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